I’m afraid I have to agree: the “atheist movement” is a joke: nonsensical arguments on Twitter, Blockbot, online “harassment”, people claiming victimhood while attempting to get others fired from their jobs, demands for apologies for imagined slights, Elevatorgate… the list is endless. And the best thing of all is that all these people seem to believe that the things they do are of vital, critical importance.

I think the big mistake here is the belief that there is such a thing as an atheist movement, or an atheist community behind it. There are only atheists, who sometimes get together and do stuff.

Your last statement – I totally agree with and have ben arguing for some time now. I don’t see atheism as a movement. Sure, there are organizations, like AA that promote atheism but when I think of a “movement”, well, I think of the anti-war protests of the ’60’s – early ’70’s. How about the Equal Rights movement of MLK?? This were movements that made things happen.

As for atheism being a joke, remember that it’s just a small number of people involved here. Sire, the mess makes the rest of us look ridiculous, but I think that 99% of atheists probably have no idea about this so-called “rift”.